Marine Captain Benjamin Sammis, 29

When he took to the skies in his Cobra helicopter, Sammis was realizing his boyhood dream. He was all of 10 when he discovered he wanted to be a pilot.

"Our son ... loved to fly and loved the Corps as much as life itself," Steve and Beth Sammis said in a statement. "We will be forever proud of him and the character he held so true."

Sammis, of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and stationed at Camp Pendleton, died on April 4 in a helicopter crash.

Sammis was a 1996 graduate of The Citadel, where he majored in civil engineering, Family friend Bruce Morris said Sammis also flew jets for the military.

Sammis and his wife, Stacey Sammis, had been married about a year and a half.

"Sometimes in life you are lucky enough to find and marry your best friend," Stacey Sammis said. "Ben and I were that lucky. Ben is the most gentle, loving and kind man. He loved flying and he loved his country." (AP)